The name used below has been changed to protect the
individual’s privacy.
I want to tell you the story of a young man named Robert. Robert is a
participant at The Center at Blessed Sacrament, a drop in center for homeless
individuals to participate in community groups. I first met him in a
mindfulness meditation group and was quickly intrigued by his strong diction
and sensitivity to others as the topic of having a positive attitude in
negative circumstances was discussed.
Speaking with Robert after the group ended I learned he had been homeless in
Hollywood for three months. Coming from an abusive family in Georgia, he
worked hard and achieved much in his young life with little outside
support. He was on a football scholarship at Missouri State University
where he was pursuing becoming a medical doctor.
However, despite all this accomplishment, Robert still felt unfulfilled and
decided to pursue his love of the arts in Hollywood. Giving away
everything he had, he moved to LA with $300 in his pocket. He wanted what
so many like him have come here for: to become an actor. He later admitted
to me that as his plane touched down at LAX and the gravity of his decision
fell upon him, he knew he would sleep on the street that night.
It is now three months later and Robert is sipping coffee and eating donuts in
our homeless care facility. At 22-years-old and full of potential and
ambition, his circumstance bewilders me. I ask myself, “Isn’t
homelessness reserved for the mentally ill, downtrodden, antisocial,
unmotivated people? How can someone like this fall so low?”
Robert has invented a theory I like to call Robert’s Hierarchy of Needs.
Unlike Maslow’s, which begins with life’s most fundamental components for
contentedness, Robert’s works backwards, peeling away the excess down to what
is most essential to be content. Because he does not have bills to pay,
work to be on time to, or money to manage, he is able to live more freely.
Without these little human stresses, Robert is actually content in a way he
never has been before. Once all you have to worry about is finding food
and shelter, your natural survival instincts take over and keep you alive, he
says.
While Robert is doing all right for now, the dangers of drugs, alcohol, and
violence on the street has proven time and time again to be inevitable.
He is currently applying for jobs and searching for avenues to use his artistic
abilities.
Life in Hollywood proves to be challenging for me as well. This week, my
computer was stolen from our house. We have also had other major thefts
and some illnesses. But, amidst the hardship, there is a sense of
peace. Maybe I am better understanding my own hierarchy of needs.
This city is damaged and in need of healing and I am not sure I can do anything
to help it. But I can at least listen to someone like Robert share his
story while he finishes his donut.
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| Drew is a current Dweller in Hollywood. More about the work he and his intentional community are doing: www.facebook.com/DOORHollywoodDwell |
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